Henderson battles tough Sahalee CC to share lead at KPMG Women's PGA

LPGA Tour KPMG Women's PGA Championship leaderboard http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/kpmgwomenspgachampionship/leaderboard

Sahalee CC is proving to be a very stern test for the best players on the LPGA tour, especially in heavy rain, wind and fall like temperatures. With only two holes playing under par on Friday the course is playing nearly 4 1/2 shots over par. So far this week the women have only managed 22 rounds under par..

At the top of the list stands Brooke Henderson who opened with that brilliant 67 and added a +2 73 in the worst of the afternoon weather to sit at -2, tied for the lead with Mirim Lee, just a shot ahead of Lydia Ko (70), Gerina Piller (69) and Brittany Lincicome (70), and they are the only five players under par after two rounds.

She was very steady with six straight pars, birdied the par3 17th, then bogeyed the 18th. She ended up with 4 bogey's and 2 birdies.

Speaking to the press after the round she summed it up like this " I got a little to aggressive early which led to bogey's but I regrouped and started to hit to the middle of greens which helped me score on the back nine. I hit a lot of good putts today that just didn't fall."

She received her new Ping Vault Oslo putter this week and had this to say about it. " I love it. I didn't make a whole ton today but every putt looked like it had a chance to go in which in kind of new for me and I really like it"

Regarding the wild weather..“Definitely growing up, springtime, fall-time weather was very similar to this and I think it gives me a little bit of advantage. But I like to think I’m a good player in all conditions. Maybe it runs in my favor a little bit.”

What about Lydia Ko lurking right behind her?.. "I don't necessarily think about that but I do see the names up there. I like to see mine at the top. It gives me a confidence boost. I'm a player to look a leaderboards to see who is behind me. "

Regarding her natural tendency to be aggressive.. " I like to pin hunt sometimes so it's hard for me to just hit to the centre but I think that's what you  have to do here. To be tied for the lead after two rounds of a major is pretty cool but I know I didn't play my best today and so I'm looking forward to having a good strategy and being able to execute on Saturday.

Three-time defending champion Inbee Park playing with an injured thumb a day after wrapping up an LPGA Hall of Fame spot,shot an 79 yesterday and will miss the cut and probably take an extended break to recover. Thailand’s star, Ariya Jutanugarn, the winner of her last three tournaments, is at +3 after a 75 while Michelle Wie 78-80 is also heading home.

Canadian scores : Alena Sharp shot +1 72 T28th. Maude-Aimée Leblanc 74 75 is T56. Samantha Richdale, 80 80 is T136.

Bryan Angus